"Grateful for all the support" - Cristiano Ronaldo reacts on social media as he receives UCL all-time top scorer award from UEFA
Cristiano Ronaldo has reacted on social media after receiving the UEFA Champions League's all-time top scorer award. European football's governing body acknowledged the Portuguese forward during a ceremony in Monte Carlo on Thursday, August 29.
The draw of this season's league phase took place on Thursday. Ronaldo received the special award during the event. He is the UCL's all-time top scorer with 140 goals to his name. He's made 183 appearances in the UEFA Champions League and bagged 48 assists alongside his record number of goals.
Ronaldo didn't score in his first 26 appearances in the Champions League. He certainly made up for lost time. Upon receiving the latest award from UEFA, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner wrote on Instagram:
"Honored to receive this award from @championsleague for being the all-time top scorer of the competition. Grateful for all the support along the way! Thank you!"
Cristiano Ronaldo holds numerous UEFA Champions League records. He is also the player with the most goals in a single UCL campaign, having scored 17 goals in 2013-14 as Real Madrid won the La Decima.
He was also the first player in history to score 100 Champions League goals for a single club, having done so with Real Madrid (105 goals). Lionel Messi later joined his Portuguese counterpart on that list (120 goals).
Ronaldo played in the Champions League with Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. While he played a qualifier game with Sporting CP, he never played in the main competition with his boyhood club.
Cristiano Ronaldo finished as the top scorer in all of his Champions League winning campaigns
Cristiano Ronaldo was the ultimate performer on the big Champions League nights. He did his best bits under the brightest of lights and won the UCL five times in his career.
Remarkably, Ronaldo finished as the top scorer in all of those five seasons. During Manchester United's triumphant run in 2007-08, Ronaldo scored eight goals. He scored a record 17 goals in 2013-14.
Ronaldo and Real Madrid then went on to complete a historic three-peat, winning the competition in 2015-16, 2016-17, and also in 2017-18 seasons. He scored 16, 12, and 15 goals in those three seasons respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo also finished as the top scorer in 2012-13, when Real Madrid lost to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals. He scored 12 goals that season. The Portuguese legend finished as the UCL's top scorer in six different campaigns, a competition record he shares with Lionel Messi.